Not knowing if I was remembering correctly, I read through the state constitution, and holy hell, they dedicate like seven pages of the constitution to casino gambling for four gambling facilities. For reference, most other sections are a few paragraphs, at most.
In The Netherlands, both running a lottery and running a physical casinos are reserved for two state-owned companies. By law, half of the profit goes to charity. The rest goes to the government.
In Sweden, the government-owned liquor chain Systembolaget is the only one allowed to sell stuff containing more than 3.5% alcohol. Norway has basically the same thing going on.
The idea is that things like gambling and alcohol consumption have an overall negative impact on society, but completely banning them will cause even more harm. Having a state monopoly makes it easier to promote safe and moderate consumption, as no profit is required and criminal figures are kept out - at least in theory.
Most states would put something along the lines of, "A state gaming commission will be created, with the duties and structure granted to them by the Congress of <state>." Then pass a subsequent law outlining the nitty-gritty details.
IANAL, but I suppose this is the result of some fuckery by the casino owners. It's probably easier to modify the constitution than it is to get actual laws past.
https://malegislature.gov/laws/constitution#chapterVSectionI
https://stonerdays.com/will-ohio-legalize-a-marijuana-monopo...
It was/is a sensible strategic move to frame cannabis legalization as "regulate it like alcohol"; but looking at the bizarre patchwork of regulations for each state regarding alcohol (a historical side effect of the gradual elimination of Prohibition), a lot of that baggage is now getting carried over to cannabis ("from grain to bottle" compliance -> "from seed to sale").
I personally consider states and investors getting a steep cut or artificial monopoly to be a lesser evil than tolerating the grave injustice of the War on Drugs, but as legalization becomes more normalized, it's worth paying attention to these details and policy trade-offs on new state initiatives.
Source: Coloradan who formerly worked in alcohol compliance.